Following the end of U.S. penny production, a growing number of merchants are rounding cash transactions up or down to the nearest five cents, since exact one-cent change is no longer readily available. At the same time, more businesses are adding surcharges to credit card purchases, meaning the final price customers pay increasingly depends on how they choose to pay.
Why are stores rounding cash purchases now?
The shift stems directly from the government’s decision to stop minting new pennies, a move driven by the rising cost of producing them relative to their face value. As existing penny supplies dwindle, retailers that once gave exact change in cash are adjusting totals so purchases land on the nearest nickel, effectively phasing out one-cent transactions at the register.
This rounding typically applies only to cash payments, since electronic transactions can still be processed to the exact cent. As a result, a cash total ending in three cents might round down to zero, while one ending in eight cents might round up to ten, creating small but noticeable differences in what shoppers hand over or receive back.
What does this mean for credit card users?
Card users are seeing a separate but related trend: more merchants are charging a surcharge specifically for credit card use, adding a small percentage or flat fee to transactions paid by card rather than cash. Businesses have increasingly turned to these surcharges to offset the processing costs charged by card networks and banks.
Consumers should expect prices to vary slightly depending on payment method, industry observers say, as rounding and surcharge practices become more common nationwide.
How should consumers adjust to the changes?
Shoppers paying with cash may notice their total shift by a few cents compared to the listed price, while those using credit cards may see an added fee disclosed at checkout. Comparing final costs across payment methods, and checking receipts or posted signage for rounding and surcharge policies, can help consumers understand exactly what they are being charged before completing a purchase.
